Detroit manager: Barbs won't solve city's crisis

In a Dec. 12, 2008 file photo, a pedestrian walks by graffiti in downtown Detroit. On Thursday, July 18, 2013 Detroit became the largest city in U.S. history to file for bankruptcy when State-appointed emergency manager Kevyn Orr asked a federal judge for municipal bankruptcy protection. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, FILE)

DETROIT (AP) — Detroit’s emergency manager complained Thursday that critics of the city’s bankruptcy are quick with barbs but not with proposals to deal with billions of debt.

Kevyn Orr took Detroit into Chapter 9 bankruptcy last week with the blessing of Gov. Rick Snyder. It’s the largest bankruptcy by a local government in U.S. history. While the case is being overseen by a judge, the city and its creditors still are free to negotiate deals that could shorten the process.

“Instead of engaging in a war of words . even if you have to do that for public consumption, come to me confidentially with a counter-proposal. I haven’t heard that,” Orr said of creditors, unions and other critics. He spoke on the “Craig Fahle Show” on WDET-FM.

Orr has said Detroit has long-term debts of at least $18 billion. The bankruptcy process could take a year or more, but U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes first must find that Detroit is eligible. Some unions plan to challenge it.

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“You can’t show insolvency. ... We’re going to get our day in court,” Ed McNeil, a senior negotiator at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said after a court hearing Wednesday.

Rhodes is proposing that another judge, Gerald Rosen of the U.S. District Court in Detroit, act as a mediator in the months ahead. That’s on the agenda at the next hearing, Aug. 2.

“We need a sober, mature discussion,” Orr said of critics. “If you want to sit around and call me names — we don’t have time for that. You’re wasting time.”